Every year at Thanksgiving, my family brings all the Hollywood questions to me. I'm usually answering who's a nice celebrity and who's mean, but this year, people want to know what producers do. I refused the urge to be snarky and laid it out the best I could. But there's a lot of nuance on the subject, especially when it comes to executive producers versus producers. So...what's the difference? Let's dive in and offer some answers. What Does a Producer Do?The producer role on a feature film is often seen as 'being the boss', but in some ways, it's better to think of them as the person who has to pick up the slack wherever that may be.Generally speaking, a producer develops, manages, oversees, and delivers a finished project to a studio. They can do everything from own the rights to the intellectual property to negotiating above the line salaries, to creating a budget and signing below the line craftspeople. In some instances, they have all these responsibilities or just a fraction of one of them. It all depends on the project and what is required of them. What Does an Executive Producer Do?An executive producer, or EP, generally has a more hands-off role, focusing on the big-picture aspects of the project. They could be there to brainstorm who should direct it, give opinions on actors, or just accept this honorary title for giving notes at some step in the process. Executive producers are often the bigger names like your...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Monday, 2 December, 2024